Southern California -- this just in

The last graduates of Daniel Murphy High

May 29, 2008 | 1:09
pm

After Friday night's commencement ceremony at Daniel Murphy High, there will be no new crop of freshman to replace the graduates of the Catholic boys academy. The small Fairfax district school, whose graduates include current L.A. councilman Bernard Parks, is closing after half a century.

Officials of the Los Angeles Archdiocese blamed falling enrollment, down to about 230 last year, when they announced the closure last year. But many school supporters said Daniel Murphy is the victim of a financial squeeze as the district seeks to pay off the massive $660 million settlement with victims of clergy abuse.

"We don't want another set of victims," support group President Robert Barner said last fall. "There is an opportunity here to send a strong message to young people and families throughout the archdiocese that we value children and that you will not make them pay for past mistakes."